Trying Again
by myeclareheartwilllast
Summary: Eli and Clare start a brand new relationship. Hopefully things will be better this time around.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey ! The next chapters will be a lot longer ! I just wanted to get the first little bit out. They will be getting back together in this story and i will try to update every other day. I kinda want to get into her insomnia story line a bit and also the Eli and Ali confrontation but it was also just be mainly Eclare fluff :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi. **

Clare spent most of her break doing nothing. She had hung around with Adam a few times but it mostly consisted of reading and thinking, a lot of thinking. She was rather confused about the whole situation concerning Eli but wouldn't doubt the fact that he was probably ten times more confused than she was.

Adam had invited Clare to a party that him and Drew we're having together. At first she was a bit hesitant at going, knowing that would mean there would be tons of Drew's friends there... And alcohol. Once Adam told her that he was pretty sure Eli was coming, she knew she had to go.

Her mind was consumed of thoughts about what happened and she needed answers. She knew she also needed to give some to him as well, he definitely deserved that. Clare knew how he felt and she knew she still had feelings towards him but she knew it would take time to convince him of that.

She knew it must have seemed by dating Jake that she was over him and by telling him "they were never getting back together." He was in a whole different state back then though... But she didn't want it to seem like she only wanted him when he was better. She knew now that if Eli were to go through some rough patches again, this time she would want to be there. She didn't want to ever feel like he had abandoned him again.

These feelings that were consuming her kept her wanting him and definitely wanting his lips on hers.  
The feelings she felt after that kiss only reminded her severely of the butterflies she would receive after kissing him back when they were dating.

"Clare, honey!", Helen called, "Aren't you going to get ready for Adam's party?"

"Yeah mom!" Clare yelled back down the stairs, confused that her mom was reminding her when it took a lot of convincing to let her go in the first place.

She set her book down on her night table and began to get ready for the night ahead of her. She looked through all of her clothes deciding that nothing was good enough to wear tonight...Eli was going to see her. She began getting frustrated before she finally found her black high-wasted skirt. She found a perfect purplish blue top to go with it as well. She knew it was belong freezing outside and chose out a black blazer to match. Once she had finished doing her make-up and fixing her curls, she walked downstairs.

"Hey Jake, you're going to Drew's party tonight right?" Clare asked questioningly.

"Uh yeah... Are you planning on going?" he asked looking at her attire.

"Yeah, do you think you could give me a ride?" she asked hoping he would say yes.

"Sure."

The drive over was pretty quiet, not that she minded. He needed time to gather her thoughts and prepare for the night ahead anyways. They pulled up outside of their house ad immediately her nerves became shot. She felt her hands begin to shake slightly and took a huge breath in and told herself "it's just Eli, nothing can go wrong."

She entered the party and immediately started scanning the room for him. Her eyes did catch someone though and he decided she better go say hi.

"Hey! Adam!" she called over the blasting music.

"Oh hey Clare! Glad you could make it" he said giving her a hug.

Once they pulled away their eyes met and Adam knew just why she looked that way. Nervous.

"He's outside" Adam said nonchalantly knowing she'd catch on.

"Oh" was all he replied.

" Clare" he began," I know what happened between you two. The boy tells me practically everything. I just want you to know that he is doing a lot better now and that if you really don't have plans in sticking around... Please tell him that now."

"Don't worry Adam. I promise I won't hurt him like that again." she said quietly "I really think things could be different this one for us, you know?"

"Don't worry what I think Clare! I'm happy for you and Eli trust me. I just wanted to make sure you felt the same way it seems he has been feeling lately before I shoved you out there to talk to him"

"what?" Clare shouted but it was too late. He had already opened the Sliding door and pushed her outside closing it and locking it behind her.

Adam mouthed her a quick "You're welcome" before walking away and disappearing into the crowd.

Clare turned around only to see Eli slowly glance up at her with a questioning look on his face.

"Hey, Eli" she spoke quietly.

"Hey" Eli replied staring at her before flashing her the tiniest of smirks.

**Reviews would be lovely ! :)- Savannah**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry, I know i said the rest would be longer but i really wanted to end it there. This time i promise the rest will be longerthough!**

**disclaimer: I do no own Degrassi**

"Adam told me you were coming..." Clare started," I think it's time we really talked about what happened last week."

"Yeaaah... I'm just gonna tell you right now that I'm really confused. Before you say anything though, I just want you to know that you don't have to do this. Jut because you kissed me doesn't mean anything has to happen ok? I don't want you to feel like you owe me anything now if that's not what you want one hundred percent."

Clare just stared back at him and slowly made her way over to the bench to sit next to him. Her heart beat sped up to a mile per minute because she realized something. Hearing him say that almost hurt because she did want it to go somewhere but it seemed like he didn't.

"So you don't want this to go anywhere?" Clare asked tentatively.

She heard him inhale softly before saying "Clare, don't be ridiculous, you know there's nothing I want more than to be with you again. Going through all of that stuff last year wasn't the only reason I was so hung up on you. I still have really strong feelings for you... And that scares the shit out of me but it's up to you ya know? Just tell me if you want to be with me to and if you don't please don't say you do."

"I do Eli, I really do," she told him eagerly.

He glanced over at her and looked right into her eyes. He wanted to question her motives and ask her why. Why would she want to be with him again? But he couldn't because the way he was looking at him brought back way too many feelings for him to form words in his mouth.

"I want us to pick up where we left off Eli, just like you said, before everything went wrong, before all the Fitz stuff and drama. I want to go back to our coffee dates at the dot and our contraband kissing..." Clare said the last part with a blush," I want to go back to when we would help each other with all of our problems and would tell each other everything. I miss that Eli. So much." Clare finished her rambling with a slight redness to her cheeks.

"You really want that? You want to be my girlfriend?" Eli asked her seriously.

"Yes," Clare answered," more than anything."

Eli smiled at Clare while questioning her with his eyes.

"Look, I know it seems like we are supposed to have this big talk about everything that happened and all that but I don't really think we need to. I mean we were both there; we both saw our relationship crumble and I don't really know what else to say about it. I think all we need to focus on is the future," Eli said to Clare while watching her emotions play out on her face. First confusion and then understanding.

"You're right," Clare said while turning her gaze to meet his, "we just need to focus on the future...our future. Together."

They both just looked into each other's eyes for a moment questioning each other whether they were both wanting what the others did as well. Eli began to lean in slowly before he smirked and caught her lips in a kiss. Although they had kissed quite a few times in their past relationship and all of them never failed to give her butterflies this one was different. It was deeper, more meaningful and definitely more emotional. Unlike their kiss before break, they didn't pull away immediately. They were too caught up in each other to even realize they were practically making out on Adams bench in his backyard. Nothing mattered.

Once Clare felt Eli slowly slide his tongue along her bottom lip she knew she was done. She knew she wouldn't be able to pull away quite yet... The feeling was simply too amazing. She let her tongue move along his while slowly parting her lips to take a quick inhale of oxygen since it seemed to be suddenly lacking in the room.

When Eli pulled away quickly he heard her breathe out heavily and began to question himself.

"I'm sorry. Was that too much too soon? I really don't want to make you feel uncomfortable," Eli told her honestly.

"No," Clare replied before putting her hand on the back of his neck an bringing his lips back to hers. She slid her other hand down his neck and to his chest and placed it over his heart to feel it beating. It wasn't just quick; it was beating so fast she couldn't understand how he was still breathing. She quickly pulled away thinking that maybe it was too much for him and that's why he had asked her.

"Sorry, I guess I wasn't really thinking about whether it was too much for you," Clare said practically in a whisper.

"As if," Eli scoffed while a smile formed on his lips getting one out of her as well.

They sat there for a moment in the aftermath of their breathtaking kiss. They felt for a moment as if they were the only two in the world. Although they could hear the music through the glad door it didn't disrupt their thoughts. They were both thinking the exact same thing. They were both wondering how it was so easy to just fall back into the way things had been before everything happened. To fall back in love with the other through just one simple kiss.

**Reviews would be great thanks ! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey! This one kind of ended weirdly but i wanted to save some Eclare fluff for the next chapter ! I have an idea for the next one but I wouldn't mid getting a few ideas!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi**

Clare sighed as she opened the front doors to Degrassi community school ready to face her first day back after winter break. She and Eli had gotten back together just five days earlier and nothing had gone wrong yet. She took that as a good sign. They hadn't talked much since the night of the party; they sent a few texts here and there, but nothing too exciting. Even though they hadn't talked much, she still felt amazed by how everything worked out. Although she was dreading today since she just didn't feel up for school, she was excited to see Eli and when she turned the corner of the hallway to go to her locker, she got butterflies seeing him standing there waiting.

"Hey, Clare" Eli said, while a smirk appeared across his face.

"Hey" Clare replied smiling back at him while the butterflies continued to grow in her stomach.

She continued to walk and stood beside him while opening her locker.

"So..." she started," how was the rest of your break?" After asking him she looked directly at him waiting for his reply.

"It was alright, I guess. Pretty uneventful, would have been better if I had gotten to spend some time with you." He said as he continued to smile at her.

"Trust me; I would have loved to have spent time with you rather than Jake's side of the family for three days straight. I thought I was going to go insane" She said with a small laugh while she placed some of her textbooks into her locker and grabbing out others.

"I'm sorry" he said," That sounds awful, really."

"Don't worry about it, as long as I get to spend some time with my boyfriend soon?" right as she said it she was thinking it was going to taste like a foreign word on her tongue but was surprised at how natural it felt. Immediately a smile was placed on Eli's lips.

"Of course" He said while he grabbed her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers after she had closed her locker. They began to make their way down the hallway to their classes. Once Eli made it to the door of his Civics class he immediately stopped.

"Well..." he began," This is me."

He looked in towards the class and saw Fiona wave at him and point to the seat she has clearly saved him, next to her.

"I'll see you at lunch?" He asked her while turning back to face her and slowly leaned down.

"Alright" Clare replied before reaching up to meet his lips with hers for a brief moment.

After removing her hand from his grasp and making her way down the hallway to her biology class, she couldn't help but fight the huge smile that dared to cross her face. She was with Eli again. _Her _Eli and she could not be any happier.

...

"So, looks like you and Saint Clare have fallen right back into the pattern of being annoyingly yet cutely in love" Fiona said while raising her eyebrow at him.

"I wouldn't say in love..." Eli said with confusion in his voice," Well at least not for her. I don't know how long it's gonna to take for that to happen again."

"I wouldn't be so sure. She sure looks like she is." She said while watching the smile slowly appear on his face.

"You don't know what you're talking about." Eli said matter of factly.

Fiona gave Eli a look before continuing," Yeah, I mean what would I know about what a girl looks like while she's in love?"

Eli just chuckled in response knowing that she was referring to her and Imogen. At first he was mostly just shocked that the two of them had gotten together but at the same time he had known it was only a matter of time before something happened between them two.

"You really think she is?" he asked, his voice full of hope," I mean I don't want her to feel like she needs to tell me she is just to make me happy."

"No, Eli, it really looks like she is. I know you two had some problems before, a lot of them, but I think things are different now. I mean look at you! You're already doing so much better Eli. Just like I told Imogen, You're an amazing guy and any girl would be lucky to have you."

A blush began to form on his cheeks before he could reply to her.

"Thanks Fi, that means a lot."

"No problem. Now let's starts on our project for Perino. Wanna be my partner?" Fiona asked.

"Sure Thing" Eli replied.

...

Eli was laying in his bed thinking about Clare. They had already spent three days at school together as a couple and her lips never graced his again after that one kiss before Civics class. He decided that that really needed to change. He decided to text Clare.

"_Hey...what are you up to?"-Eli._

She responded almost immediately.

"_Nothing really. Just doing a little bit of reading. Why?"-Clare._

He wondered whether he should ask her and decided to just go for it.

"_I was wondering if you maybe wanted to come over for a bit. You know...Spend some time with your boyfriend ;)?"_

Clare laughed at Eli's proposal but also took in a tiny exhale noting the use of that word. She like hearing him say it.

"_Love to. What time?"-Clare_

"_I'll pick you up in ten?"-Eli_

"_Sounds Good."-Clare_

Clare quickly got out of bed and changed into some leggings and a light pink v neck. She grabbed her phone off of her nightstand and went downstairs.

"Hey mom, I'm going to Eli's for a bit. Is that okay with you?" Clare asked tentatively. She had already told her mom about them and she seemed alright with it after quite a long discussion.

"Sure, Clare. Be back by ten please." Helen replied glances up from the magazine she was reading on the couch.

Clare stepped outside to sit on the front steps and wait for him. She closed her eyes as the chill of the Toronto wind breezed across her face. She began drifting into thought before she heard a car pull up. She opened her eyes and squinted while they adjusted to the light. Once she realized it was Eli a smile crossed her lips. She stood up and walked around to the passenger side door.

"Hey you" Eli said while Clare climbed in next to him.

"Hi" Clare replied looking over at him before grazing his hand with her own and wrapping her fingers through his.

Eli smiled as he felt Clare's hand grab his own. He swore his heart picked up its pace just from that little bit of connection.

" So, what are you planning we do on this fine Thursday evening?" Clare asked glancing over at him.

"I was thinking we could maybe watch a movie in my room. Maybe some cuddling?" Eli asked, his voice laced with hope.

"Sounds lovely" Clare replied.

She hadn't been into Eli's room since cleaning it and she knew they never made much progress. She realized now that Eli was better, and maybe he had cleaned up his room by himself. She wasn't going to question him on this though. She was just hoping for the best and expecting the worse.

**Reviews? :) thaaanks ! 3 hopefully Eli wasn't just on his phone in that promo and Clare was on top of him ! ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Heeeey! sorry this one took me longer to update than the others but i decided I'm going to make most of the chapters around 1000 words but ill update every other day like I said :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi.**

They pulled up outside and Clare slowly let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. She didn't know why she was so nervous but at the same time she did. She wasn't scared of the mere fact of seeing his room; she was scared about all of the memories she knew would come flooding back to her once she saw it. He came around to her side of the car and opened her door for her like he always used to. He grabbed her hand as they made their way to the front door. Once they entered the house she realised how quiet it was and shot him a confused glance.

"My parents are out..." he said watching her reaction. It made him question this idea, "does that make you feel uncomfortable at all? If you want we don't have to hang out here."

She rolled her eyes at him immediately.

"Just, shut up" She said while gaining courage and grabbing his hand to lead him up the stairs to his room.

She opened the door being prepared for the worst. She looked around the room, shock being evident on her face. It was clean. As clean as any teenage boys room would be. She turned around to face him with a smile plastered on her face.

"I can't believe you cleaned it, Eli" she began, "I'm so proud of you."

"Seriously? It was no big deal; just took a while" he said it as if it hadn't taken him two months but he didn't want to admit this out loud, especially to Clare.

They stood there for a moment just smiling at each other before Clare sat down on the end of his bed and held her hand out for his. Immediately he intertwined his fingers with hers before she pulled him towards herself. He sat down next to her but only got time to breathe out before she grabbed him behind his neck with her right hand and he put his lips over her own. It started out slow; he was trying not to get carried away.

"Clare," he started as he pulled away, "just because we are up here alone in my room doesn't mean we have to do this. We can just watch a movie if you want."

"Eli, its fine, I want to." She said simply.

"Are you sure?" He questioned, "I mean we never really did THIS before and I don't really know what you're comfortable with anymore. I haven't been with you in a long time."

"I know but its different now. I want to do this, I promise, I wouldn't be initiating something I didn't want" She said while slowly sliding her hand up his chest.

He didn't reply; he just looked into her eyes making sure they were saying what her lips were. A smirk spread across his lips before he leaned in again. His lips moved over hers expertly while his hands slid to her waist. He felt her begin to lean back and took this a sign as he climbed over top of her now in a laying position. Although they shifted positions, his lips never left hers for a moment. He felt like it would be completely impossible for this action to occur. He realized he could spend the rest of his life with his lips attached to hers and be completely content. His breath began catching in his throat. He and Clare had been together before but they had never kissed like this. Ever. It wasn't that he didn't want to; He just thought she wouldn't want to. His heart started beating in his chest. After practically five minutes of making out Eli felt he couldn't take it any longer without things becoming awkward. Her hips were moving again his in a way that made him quickly change his mind from where this was heading.

"Baby, I think we should stop," he said while his mind was thinking the complete opposite, "I don't know how much more of this I can take."

Clare sat up pushing him off of her and began attempting to catch her breath.

"Okay" she replied with little emotion.

"Please don't think it's anything you did other than being too amazing. I don't want to stop, I just don't know how much longer I could have lasted with your body moving against mine like that" he said while a blush began to form on his cheeks.

"Its okay, Eli" she said while placing a hand on his cheek and looking into his eyes, "I get it."

"We can still watch a movie if you'd like..." he asked her.

"Sure" she replied.

He quickly stood up looking threw his cupboard for a good movie. After asking her to choose between the five he had that weren't horror he placed the movie into the DVD player he had in his room. He then climbed into his bed next to her.

"You can get under the covers if you want, Clare" he said with slight apprehension.

"Alright... are you gonna join me under them?" she asked with a devious smile on her face.

"If I'm aloud" He said with a laugh.

"You are" she said while trying not to laugh herself.

They both climbed under the covers and Eli immediately wrapped his arms around her stomach and kissed her on the cheek.

"Eli," she began while turning to face him as he loosened his grip on her to allow her to do so, "I want to tell you something."

"Alright, shoot" He said seriously.

She looked into his eyes questioning whether or not it was too soon to tell him since they had just recently gotten back together. She decided to go against the doubts running through her mind and just say it.

"I love you" she said.

He sat there almost in shock for a moment before the realization set it. A large smiled crossed his face before he could get it to leave to tell her the same sentiment with seriousness.

"God Clare, I love you too. So much." He suddenly didn't care about getting carried away or taking things too far. He wrapped his arm around her back before leaning in and pressing his lips to hers. Although it started out light it turned into the most mind-blowing kiss he'd ever had. Once he felt her bring his bottom lip between her teeth he couldn't help himself any longer. He light out a slight moan into their kiss hoping it wouldn't throw her off. To his immense pleasure, it didn't. He swore they laid there in complete bliss just kissing and cuddling for another hour before her drove her home. He knew this was just the start of a very amazing thing.

**Reviews are always appreciated ;) **


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